Lonely Wrist: All Things Watches & Horology
Lonely Wrist dives deep into the intricate world of watches, unearthing the stories, craft, and passion behind every ticking piece. From timeless classics to modern marvels, this podcast winds through the history, mechanics, and cultural significance of timepieces. Whether you're an avid horologist or just someone who admires the beauty of a well-crafted watch, Lonely Wrist offers a unique perspective, uniting enthusiasts and curious minds. Join us every episode as we explore the art of watchmaking, discuss the latest trends, and interview watch industry experts, all while appreciating the silent yet profound voice of every watch's lonely wrist.
Lonely Wrist: All Things Watches & Horology
Building Trust and Innovation in Watchmaking with Mike Pearson of Christopher Ward
Join us as we welcome back the passionate and knowledgeable Mike Pearson, this time representing Christopher Ward. Discover Mike's transition from Zodiac to Christopher Ward and how his passion for the brand's community-focused approach influenced his career move. Hear firsthand about the brand's journey over the past two decades, their design evolution, and their dedication to producing high-quality watches that stand the test of time. Mike's infectious enthusiasm and deep connection to the brand come through, making for an engaging and heartfelt discussion.
Uncover the unique challenges of promoting and building Christopher Ward's presence in the United States, particularly for an online-exclusive brand. We discuss the importance of face-to-face interactions in establishing trust within the watch community and bridging cultural differences between British and American consumers. Learn about the personal impact of representing a British brand in the U.S. and the critical role of effective communication in fostering brand loyalty across different markets.
Look ahead with us as Mike shares insights into Christopher Ward's innovative future, including their proactive design strategies and the meticulous development process behind groundbreaking models like the Belcanto. From the opening of their first U.S. showroom in Dallas to the strategic growth of their team and operations, discover how Christopher Ward blends retail with digital experiences and maintains its dedication to quality, community, and genuine relationships. This episode is a treasure trove of stories about community building, strategic partnerships, and the legacy of a brand committed to excellence and innovation.
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Hello everybody, welcome to another episode of Lonely Wrist, today, again for the very first time, but also the second time. The first time that we have a second reoccurring guest, mr Mike Pearson, this time with Christopher Ward.
Mike Pearson:What's up, brother? Thanks for having me back.
Justin Summers:Yeah, thanks for coming back. Welcome on, man. Good to see you.
Mike Pearson:And you. I've got the branded t-shirt on for anybody who can't see. Having me back. Yeah, thanks for coming back. Welcome on, man, good to see you and you. Yeah, I put. I put the branded t-shirt on for anybody who can't see, just so. I just just to not confuse anybody about who I'm with now I'm in london.
Justin Summers:Thank god it doesn't have. Thank god it doesn't have the chr ward on it there, right? Hey, some people still like that I'm finding out.
Mike Pearson:I saw this just points I saw this one.
Blake Rea:I don't know if it was you that posted it or somebody, but they posted like one of these like general advisors or whatever that had like a christopher ward, like an older trident, where, like I looked at the dial from like the you know, like I love to like creep on, watch people, like and see what they're wearing and like I was like that doesn't look like christopher ward, but then when you zoom in it's just like Christopher Wood, like all across the whole dial and I'm like okay.
Mike Pearson:What I found in the eight months eight and a bit months being with the brand is that 285 different families in 20 years. So that means there's some good, there's some bad, there's some ugly, there's some amazing things within there that have gone away, that could, should, might, come back, but everything has been like a stepping stone to the collection I've got today. I've not loved everything I've seen, but it's been loved by somebody, which again goes to the point that that's what the watch industry is all about. You do. I think Christopher Ward, in any iteration, has always had a really great intention to build great watches for the money. But you can also see little moments in time, and that I think that logo is captured brilliantly there.
Justin Summers:so I love that you speak so highly about them.
Mike Pearson:By the way, mike, like, like, even if we talk to you outside of your normal work stuff, like we, you know, meet you at a bar or something you're so passionate about what you do, about supporting the brand, and I think that that speaks very highly of christopher ward as well well, you know, I I've said this before, especially at the wind up shows, when you see people that have seen me behind the Christopher Ward booth and they've done that double take where the Zodiac one is as well, because it was only two years with Zodiac and I say with all honesty and all love that I'd be there now for the next 30 years if I felt like this chance of crystal war wasn't as big or as special as what it is.
Mike Pearson:And I I say this again without any kind of cheesiness, uh, or cheesy lines that come out but I only joined because I saw how they spoke to the community at those types of shows. So they they speak very much like how I hope I do as well. So, yeah, I'm here, for I'm here for the right reasons, so it feels good and there's no there, there's no BS in my side here.
Blake Rea:I was going to ask you what fueled the transition, but you really just answered that question there was a lot of asking.
Mike Pearson:I just moved back to America. If I'm honest with you, mike and I just said hi. We had a few different nods over. He knew what I did with Vermont for all the years. I was respected the heck out of who he was, but I didn't know him. I didn't know Peter Ellis and I'd never known about Christopher Ward. Really, because you have those British brand blinkers on and, uh, we talked.
Mike Pearson:I kind of fell out of love with watches for a couple of years and it was Zodiac that sparked that love back and I was on a massive mission to make that brand a little bit more respected and maybe part of the mainstream conversation with, you know, within that price point but also doing things a bit different. And Zodiac has a story, unlike most of the brands out there. But it was. It was the conversations with people that were the periphery around Mike who knew of me. So I'd go to a show and I'd meet Olivia who heads their events, or I'd talk to a guy called Peter who heads their bespoke stuff, but he's a big soccer fan. So I ended up meeting him whilst in England not living, just visiting for my soccer team, who was playing against his soccer team and we had a little wrist shot Zodiac and Christopher Ward, but it was also. You'd be great, you know, you should really really talk to mike and let him, you know, let him tell you what the plans are. And it really had to be a chat with mike, um, just to kind of understand, I think, the man and the men and the people and the ladies behind it. But, yeah, you know, mike's the face of the brand. So, weirdly, I was in a wind-up and this was nothing to do with the job in terms of an interview or any kind of in. There was no ulterior motive but I went.
Mike Pearson:I like going to the gym in the morning. That's how I get too much of my energy out, otherwise I'm even more than I am. But I got to the gym in new york city this is last year and um, and for some reason it was closed for one hour extra. They were cleaning it and it was horrible rain New York City October, like proper rain falling from the sky. So I just got on my phone and my soccer team weren't playing. But I always know that, no matter where you are in the world, at six to eight in the morning, there's always a soccer game on and in a city there's a pub. So I found a local soccer pub, ran to it and it was an Everton pub and there was 200 people in Everton jerseys, which is a beautiful blue, and I was wearing an Aston Villa which is Claret training top.
Mike Pearson:So I walked in looking like a drowned puppy in the wrong colour, and all these blue people had that kind of click what are you doing in here? Like a wild west shoot, that kind of moment. And in the middle, on his own, was Mike France and he saw me and he just opened the chair and said come sit down. We did not talk about watches, we talked about football and we watched the game. You know, I tried to dry myself off as much as I could and at halftime we just had a little poking of each other to the point of who you are, what you like, how do you work.
Mike Pearson:And I was in. I just thought, you know, let's explore it more just because they'd asked for so long. But it was more of not leaving Zodiac because I didn't want to go, or not joining Christopher Walks. I didn't believe in it, I just had to. You know, this was a quick transition and for my head and my heart and my morals, it had to be the right thing, and that moment really was it. So it's all about the people, isn't it?
Blake Rea:I guess from an external perspective going, coming from bremont, going to zodiac and then now back to another british brand, I don't know. To me I guess in the weirdest way it seemed like you kind of went home.
Mike Pearson:I've had that a lot and the weird thing is I mean bre that and all my time with Vermont was always kind of flying that British flag because it was bringing watchmaking home. It was that was the eventual goal from Nick and Giles and I took their story on as mine. I was their storyteller here in the US. I opened stores and the watches were, I think, especially when we first started, were different, were very innovative and, yeah, the MB story, the dive watches were excellent. So my thing was not about flying the flag in terms of that's why you should have us. It was like, well, let me put these watches next to your watch and I'll show you how we can be part of your store. The different thing with with bremont is it's, I think maybe and this is me probably just saying this now after what you just said is I was with bremont for so long that, no matter what I did for those four or five years in between, I was always known as the, the gent who grew Bremont in North America. That was my cross to bear, but also my.
Mike Pearson:The wonderful thing that I was proud of, I think going now to Christopher Ward is, and especially going back to that logo conversation, you know the English flag and the Swiss flag. They are not British centric, they're not trying to say they very much know that they're designed in England, which is one of four countries in Great Britain, but then they know they're made in Switzerland. They lean on that heritage, they lean on that expertise. So the design, the feeling, you know, the Englishness of Mike and Peter and obviously originally Chris as well is within the brand, but that's evolved. What they've done, especially since Belcanto, is, say, right, we're made in Switzerland, we need to make more, we need the quality to go higher, better, more innovative, and that's what that logo stands for. So it's very different.
Mike Pearson:And even I think in my early events this year I brought a little flag just to add color to my table, but I didn't have a Swiss flag as well, and it was just a nice quiet conversation between I'd have York Junior saying where's your Swiss flag? I said, well, send me one. And then you put it on. It was too, too much, so then I'll speak to Mike. He's like, maybe you don't need it and so I've taken it away. And it's true, it's not about waving any flags, it's just because I think the accent, especially here, it kind of goes right. We know where you're from now. This is not. This is not a texas accent you've got right now, mike, but weirdest texas accent I've ever heard. It's very, very sudden texas. No one's heard this one. But in terms of like, the flag waving, that's gone.
Mike Pearson:And also I think there's no history that's trying to say in 1714 there was an old guy in in an attic doing this.
Mike Pearson:It's about three guys, now two that lead the way of doing the best watches for the least amount of money, in the highest capabilities, of quality, sold in a different way.
Mike Pearson:So what I've added to what I've tried to add in this first almost year is tactility, because you, you guys, know the brand, because you get either sent them or you go to some of the watch meets in some of the areas. But what I found is, I think, about 95 of people who come and I say it's a very high statistic 95 of people know christopher waller, know something of it, but I would say about 80 of every attendees, every attendee that comes to an event has never held one. So it's all preconceived ideas that you'd find on reddit or watch crunch or facebook or instagram. So I'm trying to give that humanity side to it and I think that's where the bremont experience all the way through zodiak to today, has kind of led to why this year has been so much fun yeah, and you, you've definitely got your job laid out for you because, I mean, you, you guys are only online retailers I'm assuming you know you're.
Justin Summers:You're not physical locations, so you are essentially the cheerleader for the brand. You're going around, you're putting these watches, you know, in hands, you're showing people, you know the quality of your watches and you know you're, you're telling them the truth. I think that's a beautiful thing of Christopher Ward is that you guys are just so brutally honest with your manufacturing process, your cost process. You know who you are, where you're from and, um, I think that speaks a lot and of course, having you head the way.
Mike Pearson:I'm sure that helps the company quite a bit too. I like the cheerleader tag. I'm keeping it.
Justin Summers:I say that in the most respectful way.
Mike Pearson:No, I know, I know I've kind of called myself like, especially this year, taylor Swift going all over the world. I've kind of done the errors tour. But this is my Christopher Ward era and I'm on it. But I mean the job itself is so full facing and forward facing. But what it also is from someone like Mike and Peter, the owners, is very trusting as well. This is their brand.
Mike Pearson:We've had gentlemen in the past who look after our forum. You know they've had a presence here, but they've never gone away from the wind-ups, shall we say, or the big city of new york, that area, chicago and san francisco. They've done bits in terms of conversations around, but the, the brand, has bled into the psyche of the watch community to online only. So when I was speaking to Mike, when I officially joined, the plan was what do you want to do? Because what I would do with any other brand is go to the retailer network that I trust and then you, you, you open them and they become the chip, the cheerleaders, the champions. They tell you, they lay out your watches and Christopher Ward, I mean, did a watch. Last week we got this new GMT 300, which is great. We've got another launch that'll be like a color edition tomorrow. We're doing this the first week of August and then at the end of August there's a big launch coming again, and that's always happening with Christopher. There's always another something else, a new story to tell, an evolution of a story or a model, and in some cases, some brand new ones, which is exciting.
Mike Pearson:When you do that, traditionally, you put that watch in a showcase and people run to the store, pick it up, decide to buy it, swipe the credit card away. You go here. It's got to be a level of trust through podcasts, through Instagram posts and different forums. But now I've done I think I just signed up today my 40th event of the year I'll do by the end of 2024. That's not including what I'll do in the showroom, but that does include like windups and stuff. But individually. I go to red bars or red bar like style groups, and that's been the magic, because when I said I want to go bring tactility to the community, it meant give me a company credit card. I'm jumping in economy and staying in awful hotels. I'm going old school with a bag of watches under my arm. Let's, let's buy everybody a round of beers and tell the story properly, because the transparency of the story to the pricing is very well known.
Mike Pearson:But still over in america, americans do not understand duties, and I say that respectfully, because we've all had that knock on the door for FedEx, ups or DHL saying you now owe us a hundred extra dollars even though you've already paid your duties. So what I'm telling them is everything's duties paid at the point of exit of your online transaction. If you get anything from DHL, give us a shout. It shouldn't happen and we'll make sure that it's gone away. Just to tell somebody face to face like that gives you so much more gravitas to a very, very nicely emailed or written word on the website, because sometimes we just don't read that. But to know somebody me in this case in point means we've got you.
Mike Pearson:It's a huge thing for the US. We ship for free. If you don't like it, you've got 60 days to send it back. If you don't wear it, if the watch breaks, you've got five years on the warranty. Sometimes you don't read that small print. But the biggest thing is I know that guy. He bought me a beer. I like him, he, he can stay and we trust the watches. So sometimes it break. It's broken down to a granular, a granular level, but I think we all people buy people so I just try to get that this first year.
Blake Rea:How would you say that?
Mike Pearson:being like a British brand influences the direction of the company, at least here in the United States. I only know from my experience that the first thing I'll always go through in any life, any part of my life, be it watch, world or professional, the accent comes up. So have you met the queen? What part of London are you from? I support Manchester United. Yeah, exactly so the stereotype have you seen Ted Lasso? Yeah, those kind of stereotypes, conversations, uh, which I'm fine with you know, and in many, many ways, the reason why I'm with my wife is because she said I don't care how you sound, as long as you say the right words. She was bang on and I love that.
Mike Pearson:The thing, though I think, with having this accent, I think also, I think this mentality of my Englishness, humor, I think maybe a bit of a dryness, but also I've been an American since 2006. I've worked with Americans since the early 2000s, 2006. I've worked with Americans since the early 2000s and we are different animals. But I've been here long enough to understand that we actually have more in common than we know. But we don't sell the same way, we don't position conversations in the right way or we do it differently, and customer service is always the forefront of any American's mind, as it should be and probably is with a lot of people. But Americans are less forgiving because they're used to a different level of quality of service, and I try and bridge that gap. But no, I don't think it's about where I'm from. I think it's about the fact that I live here now and I've adapted, without changing myself, to how I work. Is that fair?
Blake Rea:Yeah, yeah, I was mostly kind of angling at Christopher Ward, the brand.
Mike Pearson:I think we're in a different world now. I think if you looked at back in the day with Ramon when I started, it was very different. Everything had to be Swiss, swiss made, but the entry of Nomos and Glasschutte and the German brands. And also you look at the alliance of British watchmaking with the power of fears and Fara and Vertex and some of the unique ones such as Schofield or Pinion, and then you've got the greatness in terms of stories like George Daniels that went to Roger Smith. There is now a lot more of an appetite for it. It doesn't have to be Swiss, it just has to be bloody good. So as long as you can justify that, I think Americans love that. There's obviously a lot of Anglophiles here, so you know we talk about soccer and things that are important to the brand back in the UK, but they now translate in America very differently than maybe they would have done 15, 20 years ago. But that's a good thing. But I don't think that the Englishness matters, especially now that we've got that kind of cleanliness with the story of the English to the Swiss side of it, cleanliness with the story of the english to the swiss side of it.
Mike Pearson:The logo was and I think still is a big part of our past and people love it. But some guys and girls just didn't like to have a christopher the name christopher on the dial. It didn't mean anything to them. And some guys and girls just didn't think it was symmetrical and if it was, it was missing. Some of the the nuance, this logo say it's clean, it's all about the watch. Some of our models, such as belcanto, doesn't have the logo on it, um, but this one just keeps it symmetrical and easy. So any contentious conversation is gone and we can very easily and quickly talk about who we are and where we're built what one of my for good or one of my friends owns uh, the the Moonface with the Venturine dial.
Blake Rea:Well done your friend. Yeah, and he keeps calling it Christian Ward.
Justin Summers:And I'm like dude, you own one of these watches.
Blake Rea:He's thinking Dior, yeah. He's like yeah, I'm going to wear that Christian Ward today.
Mike Pearson:Hey, he paid the money. You can call it what he likes.
Blake Rea:We're happy with him. Yeah, he likes it and it's a cool, beautiful watch like oh, that dials.
Mike Pearson:I mean I I don't uh, I don't pretend to be flashing anyway, but I'll wear that. I think that's just awesome.
Justin Summers:So it's so good, beautiful man my favorite I was gonna say I I remember watching the uh the show. Uh, mark and them from the watch society had you on and uh, I was in agreement with mark about the. The one thing that always kind of kept me from christopher ward was the logo oh yeah but it it was.
Justin Summers:I was like man. I just I feel like it's. It's either unbalanced or there's something off with it. As soon as you guys rebranded into the two flags, I was like bro, that's it like in game there they're making some of the best watches. Yeah, I was like best watches for the money. They now got their logo. You know kind of kind of on that trend and um and I I think I remember you guys discussing something about y'all sales went up like 50% or something like that.
Mike Pearson:It was a good chunk of change it just again there was those people that hold back because of the information they don't know. But I mean, when we do a wind up, when we do an event, when I do a get together, we have a little tracker. So it's like I leave a little stink bomb and then they can see where it's kind of let off, like I, the Michael Pearson tracker kind of shows that people have seen it, trusted it and go. But that was immediate with that logo. That was definitely. But that's like I said I think I said it to you, mark. That logo has been in the collection for a while but it was case back or it was on the crown. It was never the dial because we were still baby brand. We didn't want anyone from Switzerland to come in and take us down financially, so legally, because we can definitely do it and it's our logo.
Justin Summers:Now it's on and we move forward. That's right. So I'm curious, mike kind of switch gears on us. Can you kind of walk us through, you know, maybe like the craftsmanship process of Christopher Ward watches? I know you guys make you know bang for your buck, amazing watches. Just give us a little insight into how that process works.
Mike Pearson:Sure, and I'll preface it by saying that I've only seen behind the curtain the once, and I've been to the UK side of things just a couple of times. But I get to speak to the genius that I know, which is, uh, york Bader Jr, um, quite a lot, and Will Brackfield in the UK, um, and Adrian. I would say that the beauty of Mike France and I'll say this if he was here or he wasn't, it sounds a bit weird, but I would say the beauty is it's not about him, he, he knows that there's really talented young designers, uh, behind, uh, the brand, and so we've had some incredible um moments in our past. We know, getting SH21, getting York on board, um, but in terms of what we are now, the, the young design team, are seeing what was and I'll take this to a level that I'm seeing right now, for example, this new GMT Pro 300, just taking what was and slimming it down, adding that light catcher case, making the bezel thinner. They are very much aware of where we came from, but also they know what we are now and also how to make it better. We've listened to our community. For example, our old Tridents at 42 millimetres they were like a hockey puck. So we slimmed them down. They didn't need to go to 600 metres, we went to three, but that meant we could open the case back. So the secret source of knowing who and how to make our everyday watches with the case, the bezels, the slim, slimness, the thinness, the, the lugs, that for me has shown that the design team and the conversations from england into switzerland are very mature and very much forward thinking.
Mike Pearson:When you look into things like um, the moon phase, the moon glow, and the belcanto which is salita base, with our own bit of magic on top and doing it for 2300 bucks for the moon and just over four grand al canto, those kind of things there for me show that we're not standing on our laurels. Sometimes it's happenstance, it could be, you know, a good happy accident. That balcanto's case. There was a, a jump hour, uh, from salita. That one, uh one designer called frankie's wife said it'd be great if it made a noise when it flicked over, and that's how the Balcanto idea kind of came to fruition and that's when his genius kicked into gear where, if we put all of this on top of the platine, these over 60 parts, we get a chance to not only hear the sound but see it move as well, and that's kind of why the Balcanto is magic.
Mike Pearson:What I will say is that we are now looking instead of being. I think we were very reactive. What I saw from the outside, you know, we'd see a design or a style and there'd be a lot of things that we would kind of jump into that with dial, colors, style or materials or shapes. We are now leading before seeing and then moving on to a, an ideal. So what I'm looking at when I go to switzerland is the plans for three to five years time, the ambition to have more Balcanto moments.
Mike Pearson:I said this before I don't know if we could ever have a moment that changed and shifted the brand as big as it did, that quickly. But I think that because we can do it every time we move forward, it's going to be a move, a movement that will evolve the brand, not just on that top level of Atelier watchmaking, but it will push the traditional core watches to be better as well. So my long winded answer for that is it's very, very much attaching rocket boosters to what was before and trusting the people again in Switzerland to do the right thing. Mike and Peter will always have a look at it and have that say of how they want it to look. Or, you know, can we do this? That's, that's Mike's genius within his head of how he can make a watch look a bit more nuanced for him, for us, but very much so, is trusted within Mike Sorry with Adrian, will and Jorg and the team with them, it's brilliant to see, actually quite humbling as well, actually, when you see what they went through.
Blake Rea:Christopher Ward with, with Del Canto and where they want to be in the next five, ten years, and it's it's crazy because that's that was such a bold kind of move. For you know, I would consider you guys more on the conservative side, right, you know, like your core collection are really tight, you don't stray out from your design language really. And then the Belcanto oh man.
Mike Pearson:And I saw that from that wind-up you could see that Mike was teasing something big from some of the interviews he did with Zach at Worn and Wound. But when it dropped the story that I've seen the legend of it was, they announced the blue and it sold out within a couple hours that 300 pieces and they thought that would take a year. They thought those 300 pieces at four grand, that that's not the price point that christopher ward would ever be in. Um, obviously they did a few bits with the fh21, but that was a different level of complication for a watch that they were not sure would hit. Uh, the note for the for the community surprised it ball. And then the next day they announced the green and that was a very, very early prototype drawing that had a brass dial and they sold that within 15 minutes. So they have two years worth of stock before making any watches. And they had to not only keep up with the demand of what they were doing in the core world but what we found and this is the. I think this is why I'm so impressed with the team in switzerland and also what they're doing in the uk, because it's not about designing a watch and selling it, it's also then backing it up. So those two years worth of watches were then followed up with the four core pieces that we we announced the black, the purple, the light blue and the the rosa.
Mike Pearson:So at one point there was a 16 month wait list for that, but they would not bend, they would not break. All they kept saying to our suppliers in switzerland was be better, be stronger. Um, to the people that were working with, uh, gerard genta or sorry, um, uh, who is that on a mars were in there. Um, all the different, the big houses that were around us, that were polishing or making certain parts with us, like, trust us, this is long term. So we've got more of you know, headcount is a big thing, and we've got more headcount than we ever had before. We've got incredible partners that trust the process more than ever before. So we've got to the point where, by the end of this year, we will have caught up with all of our back orders, and if you order a christopher ward belcanto today, it's a four or five month wait, as opposed to close to a year and a half. That will then go away, and so what we've got there is this is again for myself we've got the infrastructure right, but on the other side we are then on people's radars who would be mbnf fans, fp john this is crazy to say proper complications.
Mike Pearson:And they look at our four thousand dollar watch. You go, actually that could be in my collection, and this is coming from the middle east, big players in america, europe, singapore, hong kong. And so that watch then started to create a different energy, went well. If they can do this, let's look at the rest of the collection. And then we saw tridents and sea landers growing, so we have to build more of them again with the same quality, if not better. And then, in the craziest way, they launched the 12 collection, which was like pouring gasoline on the fire, because that hit a nerve for 12 to 1800 steel or titanium. That thing just flew and that's that's our best selling family by a long way.
Justin Summers:So yeah, that that definitely, that definitely has like the dna of like a do everything type watch, which is why I personally love the 12 and I'm sure many other people do. Yeah, I think that you guys definitely struck a good chord with that and, um, I agree, I think that the belcanto definitely kind of, like you know, shined a big light on you guys of, hey, like you know, what can you do, you know, in that luxury watch realm and then just be backed up by the 12.
Mike Pearson:Oh yeah, when I started with Christopher Ward it was just as the GPHG was being announced and Mike texted me because I told him before I said you're going to win, you know. And he goes. No, there's no chance. Look who we're against. And he texted me he goes. We only went and bloody won and I could. They had a great night that night. But to see that GPHG in Switzerland and then bring it to San Francisco and see people who've bought, waited for that watch, it meant so much. And then just so many people with 12 behind it because they knew that they could get that watch and you know to your point, blake is that we don't really go away from what we do. We can be conservative. And then last month we announced the ice cream collection in a new size and that sold through in a mango color just recently, I think a few days ago. So there's an appetite for color and to be a bit more bold. So you'll see more of that. But the Belcanto, I think, kind of unleashed us a little bit more.
Blake Rea:I've noticed, wherever you go, you typically have watches that typically trend to be colorful and fun me?
Mike Pearson:yes, I might have. I might have added a few more of my opinions into christopher ward. Um, there's a guy called james hillard and he's great. He goes. Oh, we know what you like, my, because he had the conversation. You know, they know an orange should be coming in soon and I've got my reasons. But yeah, yeah they, they know what I like, but at the end of the day I'm. This role is very different to what I'd had before. This is very much make sure that North America grows. They'll listen to my opinion, but it's definitely not mine.
Blake Rea:That's, that's all them back in the UK and in Switzerland, which is great, but I'll shout that we need x, y and z and hopefully they listen to a few something like jumping back to the 12, like something that was really kind of standoutish to me is like the 12 came out when, like people were getting burned out from the integrated bracelet sports watches, right like the prx, it came out and it played it out people. People were like, oh, it's just another integrated bracelet sports, why? Oh?
Mike Pearson:I didn't feel. I felt like it was. I felt like that. I felt like it was, um, us, uh, he so. And even when you look at shappic, you know that was a like with fashion and cars sometimes things just happen quite similarly in a similar amount of time, and so a lot of people thought it was being part of that trend. We'd been working on that for a couple of years, apparently, but it came out right in the middle of a couple hundred bucks, quite a lot more money, and then we were there at that entry level, but then the quality kind of pushed us up into a different yeah, and I think that kind of ignite. This is again my opinion, so take it as you like. But what I saw was that people just went wow, finally the watch has been done right, exactly price point that suits it.
Blake Rea:That that's where I was kind of alluding to. But people were burned out from the integrated bracelet concept. They're like, oh, you know, and then, um, you know, because obviously zenith had came out with the uh, the defy skyline, you know, right before you guys. And then, oh, yeah, you know, and then you guys came out and people were like, okay, this is a a proper integrated bracelet sports watch like this is done with the likes of the best of them.
Mike Pearson:Yeah, and it's only. It's only become stronger. I mean, when I first got my first watch, um, I asked for the pro 300 in bronze, which I wear mostly, and then the 12th in titanium and I never wear titanium watches but it just happened after christmas, so they'd ran out of bracelets and they sent it on the black integrated rubber, which is amazing, yeah. But I felt like a spoiled kid that I didn't get what I wanted, because that watch with that bracelet is a superstar and no matter where I go from you know breweries to you know high-end events, if I wear that watch, it suits whatever I'm wearing. So, yeah, bang on, and I'm glad it hit there in the end and yeah, it's, it's proper and and.
Blake Rea:The price is just incredible.
Mike Pearson:But it's the right maths. I mean, we know what it costs to build. We just increase that by three and that's how we get the price. And I think one of those things going back to the original points we talked about with duties and stuff is if we started distributing in America, duties would be added into the price. So a $1,200 watch would be added into the price. Uh, so a 1200 watch would be 1400, 1400. Yeah, we try and keep it as inexpensive as possible and the processes are there.
Mike Pearson:Um, but if we went into retail or we we started to market in a different way, that would be added to the price.
Mike Pearson:And so we don't sell in traditional ways, we don't market into different in traditional ways and the only way that we can keep the watches they are is by having that same business model.
Mike Pearson:Um, but if you pick up that watch and go 1295 dollars, I'll take one. But it's kind of re-educating what people think 1200 should feel like, because I don't know if you agree, but in all the years in the watch industry I still think that 1200 is a ton of cash and if I'm going to spend that much money, you shouldn't feel crap, and for too long I've been a bit like well, I don't want to go to that level of watch because I do expect more from spending that type of money. I've got kids, I've got dogs, I've got a life and a house, and I think Christopher Ward sits within that world of we're not trying to, we know we lack by not being in retail and we're not disrespecting retail, but hey, for this amount of money, you get this type of feel and that's where I think the magic's starting to happen, especially the more I do these events and people hold them.
Blake Rea:I think there's also a transparency aspect that you guys deserve like a gold medal for because, like you know, you can easily go on your website. You say, hey, look, here's how we calculate how much our watch costs. Right, you can easily just reverse engineer that and say, okay, this is how much it costs for chris reward to make right, right, like you can easily do that math on a napkin.
Mike Pearson:And uh, and nobody in the industry does that well, the tough thing is is and this is I said as well is that because we're not in retail and we don't get those thousands and thousands, hundreds of thousands of eyeballs, we lack a lot of things in terms of the notoriety we could get the sales we should get. But the guy who's behind that showcase deserves getting paid. So where's that money come from? It goes into the watch. The guy and girl who's invested at some point hundreds of thousands of dollars in a brand deserves to have that kind of addition within the margin to make some money to put it inside of his store. So we are under no illusion that we are part of a very different thinking or mindset to how we sell.
Mike Pearson:But the guys and the brands and the people that are doing what they do traditionally, they're doing it the right way, because that bit of money goes into that kind of brand and it's it's all encompassing. I mean, we're watching the olympics now and you know how much that costs for a certain brand, uh, to to be part of that or to see some really cool movie that's got some good gadgets. You know what that costs to be part of that movie, the franchise, um, but reservedly. So that also puts eyeballs on there, so it has to get paid in some way. All we say and this is what you know my whole mindset has been shifted from going into retail to now doing as I am, uh, with christopher ward now is well, just if you, if you get it, great, if you don't, it's fine, but come and hold it and feel it and you'll see the quality. So there's's so much choice out there. But yeah, we're a different level now.
Justin Summers:You guys have definitely built a very genuine customer base and I think that you know where, where you lack in certain areas. You know advertising, physical store location, things like that. I mean you guys are building a really good community of people that back you up, and I think that that's one thing about Christopher Ward that I really enjoy is everyone who is, you know, within your customer base, a part of your team, is very serious about you guys. They will support you through and through. They have taken the time to do the research, as you guys stayed on your website and, you know, went through your catalog and has, you know, physically purchased a watch from you guys, whether in hand or not. That in itself is already a big feat.
Justin Summers:You don't have, you know, as many of those not to speak negatively on people, but you know, anybody can walk into a store and see something, oh, they like, and they think that's pretty and spend money on it. They have to go through an online interaction to, you know, usually get a hold of y'all's watches, um, and so, yeah, I mean I think that that speaks volumes. Uh, and for everybody listening as well, I mean, you know if you, if you, can ever get a hold of mike and get him on location and you know, put them in your hand, do it. They're impressive. But even if you do order one straight from online, I I could vouch for them for sure, thank you.
Mike Pearson:Well, the biggest thing that's's got me is that the brands I've been with before there's a fan base. This is a different level. It's like a, the way I kind of equate it. You know, you go like you walk down around the mall and you see a 14 year old wearing a pink floyd t-shirt. You're like you don't know the songs.
Justin Summers:Yeah, that's not your song.
Mike Pearson:That's not your yeah I do the same thing now with oasis. So that's my group from the 90s. I love it.
Justin Summers:We're getting old Wonderwall.
Mike Pearson:There was 19 albums how dare you. But in the same way it's because I love those bands so much. They're part of my culture growing up. This feels very much owned by the fan base and our forum which we have on our website. We don't touch it. We very much own it because it's a place to live, where Chris Ford members can come to, and Kip who runs it. He has archived every single model, hand dial, strap variation, all the bespoke pieces. He was in England for our 20th anniversary recently and his main thing was to make sure he knew from the bespoke collection what was coming out so we could archive it.
Mike Pearson:And then the people that are on there then become care caretakers and the moderators are very different on there than what you might find back in the day with time zone or tz uk or the dive watch connection. But the love that brand it's like you know, taking care of it for future generations. That's now bled into um chris ward enthusiast and the chris ward aficionados on facebook. Um, they love it for different ways and they converse differently, which is grand, but the fan base are dedicated. What I love is, in the end, if I've got that 14 year old and I can show them the Pink Floyd album and you can love it for your own reasons. Then we move on and I've done events where it's just been me and I know it was going to be tough because the amount of people that were coming and what I've done is I've invited kip and people who are moderators on the forum or the enthusiast group to come bring a few of their old christopher ward watches and I said this with all the respect in the world is that if they want to talk about the past, I'd love to, but these events are one or two hours if we've got a hundred people there.
Mike Pearson:I know that someone who's brand new wants to see the 12, the try, that they want to understand what the 12x, why it costs, what it does. I want to hear the belcanto go to kip and talk about the older variations, go to the people in the forum because they love it differently than what I do, because I didn't know it. I know what's on this table and I'm going to take it forward, but that is, right now, the beauty of that community, because hand in hand, there's no passing of the baton. We're just. We're just walking together in different ways and that, for me is the power and why we'll grow, because, um, mike's always been the glue. Um, he's let people be sorry, my dog flapping his ears um, he's always been the glue, uh, but letting the, the design team, or trusting the design team, or the marketeers, and now me and with the forum members, we've got a really wonderful community to help grow this brand I was going to say I don't expect for you to remember you know 20 years worth of a catalog either.
Justin Summers:So I'm glad that you, you know you're able to recruit kip to come along and help you out there it seemed like the right idea and it's worked so well.
Mike Pearson:And kip actually brought 70 pieces to red bar boston and, uh, it was amazing to see them in in person and the hope is that we can do that more and more in our showrooms. And because it shouldn't be archived online only people should come and experience them, because if you put, say, an old trident next to what's now, you can see and feel is it better? Arguably, but what it was designed like and what it cost and how it was put together was reflected of the time and the brand we were then to what we are now. What we're also finding is the bigger we get, or the and I say that respectively to who we are we're not a micro brand anymore. We definitely.
Mike Pearson:You know we were an independent which has got a little bit of power within it. But the more watches we produce, that's going to help us keep the cost low, because you know, the more you produce, that means we can make things better in terms of polishing, edging, the movement that we choose. For example, this watch has got the SW 330 as opposed to it would have been the 200 before. So what we're doing is making sure that we get better, but pricing stay the same. That is the key for me.
Blake Rea:What type of challenges are you guys facing, since you, I mean, you're one of the few direct to consumer brands out there, like you're starting to see it more within the micro brand space? Um, because they want to keep the cost of the watch low. You know, obviously we talked about it. You know you can't go into a local boutique and see a Christopher Ward because you guys are direct to consumer.
Mike Pearson:Yeah, so, and I know you're a big marketing guy, like you're all about marketing the brand and, and you know, plastering it everywhere that's just but I mean there's got to be challenges with that, like I know you guys are doing like the rugby stuff, like um in everton and but I mean honestly I'm sure you've probably had challenges marketing the brand right yeah, there's definitely, because there's only a certain amount of money to keep us marketing the way that we do, which is why, yeah, like, for example, I went to an event, I did an event in new york last week and new york's a different level of price of what I would have done for an event in rally north carolina, but those people still spend that same real money, right? So what you find there is what is that return on investment for what? My time is the flight, the plan, you know, around the drinks or the venue and the food. But when it comes to advertising with Everton, that's got to be more long term goal, the rugby, a long term goal. Rugby is very much a world sport. Might not be huge here, but we have customer bases all over Australia, new Zealand, especially, obviously, in the United Kingdom, but that also aligns with us being a bit different. We time the league there in the English Premiership, which is great and there's a lot of eyeballs, but it's not as glitzy and glamorous or as global as what say the Premier League is. So when you think about Everton Mike France is an Everton fan there is a new stadium that's being built, but that Everton are one of the founders of the league.
Mike Pearson:They're one of the old boys of the, of the, of the uh, the football world. They're known as the people's club. They're very much a community-based thing and so when we work with them, yes, it's great to see five or six minutes of the 12 around the outer boarding with our logo, but unless you know sometimes what was that, what is that? But it's more the active part in that side of things where we can have contact with the coach, the players. We can do events in and around Liverpool, but also we've got conversations of having some of the players over here or the retired players players over here, because football is very much a working person's sport. It's a working man's sport in England but in America it's still a really, really exciting thing to do in the morning and kids are involved and you can be a very successful business person or just a sports person and you're noticing the behemoth that is the Premier League and we have that one club that we talk about.
Mike Pearson:If we started to do which other brands might do, which is spread over all of football, that would be very hard for a brand of our size. So we have to target and utilize that relationship to the max. The thing that's exciting for us is that you can tell yes, I'm a marketeer, but I think we're all storytellers. We work with Team Brit. Team Brit is a racing team that's for disabled or people who have lost limbs either through how they were born or they've lost them through military action, and they retrofit these cars to race in able-bodied races and we are the timing partner and one of the main sponsors of that particular race. And we are the timing partner and one of the main sponsors of that particular race. They're very much british based, but we want that team to come to the uk, so to the us, so those types of stories can be, can be told hand in hand. And finally, it's blue marine, which is a foundation that tries to stop overfishing. So that would be.
Mike Pearson:There's something coming out this year which kind of tells that story in a different way, which is great, and we do watches already right now, which have got tied straps made of recycled materials. We know that this is going to be a certain section, but all encompassing it shows the the true spirit of the brand. You know, we love sport, we love community, um, we want to do things that are different and also, we believe in the world. Let's look, look after it. So if we can, in our micro way, do that in a marketing, do it socially, do it now in events, and then probably wrap it all up within our own magazine, which is called Loop, which is free to anybody who wants to sign up, then it becomes powerful. The challenges are there's only a certain amount of money, blake, so we want to make sure that we spend it correctly, but that's the only chance. And we do have missteps, but we learn from them, right.
Justin Summers:Totally, that's right. Yeah, I was going to say I'm subscribed to the Loop magazines too and they're always a fun read. They're great quality. I always love the covers, just they're so nice man.
Mike Pearson:Everybody, please. They're free. Mike would recommend them. Get on the loop. Every three months we send out this magazine globally for free. And that's the free sign-up. And it's not just Christopher Ward spiel, it's also a bit of sport, travel movies. Sometimes there's bits and bobs. We've got a great writer called Tony. He's got a great way about him telling these stories.
Justin Summers:Yeahony's doing an awesome job. Tell him we said that um just to kind of off the wall. Uh, how do you see the?
Mike Pearson:watch industry evolving. Uh, and where does christopher ward fit into that future? Oh, justin, um, we are in a post covid world where we know how to buy our groceries online and I think, with this award and the more and more we're trusted, I think we'll just continue to grow. I think we will look to more partners. You know we did a really wonderful watch recently with Andrew Morgan, which was, you know, brilliant to be able to kind of reward all of the work that he'd done with Watchfinder, but also his expertise and understanding the Belcanto, and say, right, right, let's do something for you and your people that have followed you for all those years, those. That's really powerful. So I would love to see more of that, but organically, not just about throwing a name out there. So, christopher ward, we've got, you know, financial goals. We've got goals that we want to really, really hit. For me personally, I want and I don't know if you know this we we're opening up our first US showroom in Dallas in September. That showroom is not the head office, that's just the first office. That's how I've kind of positioned it, because that office will be small. It won't be next to any Lululemons or traditional watch stores. This is going to be off the beaten path and if you come and see us, you have to make an appointment. You get an hour. We are still keeping with and this is for right now. We are keeping with that. We are going to ship it to you, but we've got a few different incentives of why come to the, the showroom, which we're working on right now. But, more than anything, you get that hour to play with Christopher Ward and you get to discover the watches that you love, so that that's very exciting. And then what I want is to start where I am right now in texas and grow from the inside out and be at a place where we can be deserved of new york or la. But we're not there yet. We want to do it gradually, because that type of commitment to money and team and time is is crazy.
Mike Pearson:The watch industry overall I I like it. I think that we've had a big weirdness after covid where there were so many watches that had to be released because they were being built and everything was flooded, but that also created a ton of excitement in the industry at a time where the world was not really excited about buying things. There's a lot of conservatism coming out from that now, which I think is smart, but watches are going nowhere. I think retail is still a place that matters, but you go hand in hand with digital as well. So the smart players will work harder, they'll work differently, and I like that.
Mike Pearson:But for me, and especially in this American market, it's about getting together with people. We went through a few years of absolute awfulness and I love that. We can share a glass of champagne or a bottle of bubbly or maybe a nice whiskey with you, blake. We can do that a few times, um, but I'm I do believe that there's a, there's a lot of choice out there, so I'm not worried about it. I think it's exciting. I think prices have to be a little bit more um. We have to be looked at because it can get a bit silly at times and that's disappointing but understandable with the way the world is. But so it's very hard to come down once you've gone up, so that's got to be done gradually. But we all still love watches not about the bling of it all, just the stories and hopefully the craftsmanship. But I still love them and, like I told you, I didn't for a bit, so it's nice to feel like I do now. Welcome back, yeah thanks.
Blake Rea:I'm sure you have your own milestones that you hope to accomplish within the next five, 10 years at the brand Curious if you're willing to share some of those with us, like what you hope to achieve during your tenure.
Mike Pearson:No, I think you're more than welcome to ask that. And um, for me, the first one will be that showroom and that that will be massive for me. We've, you know to tell you we've. We've already employed the first manager, which is I'm excited about. That kind of personality is in line with my kind of mindset and mike's kind of mindset.
Mike Pearson:But when I had mike and peter over over to Dallas, um, yeah, they know America brilliantly through their business time with Christopher Ward and way before. But for them to see the growth that's happening in states like Texas, which is mirrored in places like the Carolinas, uh, parts of you know Georgia out there in Nevada where you are, you think about Arizona how that's grown as well. This is incredible. And Christopher Ward is 51 percent of his businesses here in North America, in the US. So just imagine what we can do. What I would really hope personally is that we can grow as a team globally from the efforts we do here in America and that is genuine if, if we can have that one person that's going to join me here in Dallas and that will end up being two that will be in Dallas, and then we recreate that, recreate that five or six times in different showrooms around the country. But that also means that more watchmakers have to be employed in Switzerland, more marketeers and PR people back in the UK and repairers in the UK because of what we do here.
Mike Pearson:I felt that with Bremond. But to know the scale and the scope and the God, the potential, I'm very excited for that because we grow, we grow a community and we grow a family and I also and this is probably a personal thing and I spoke to Mike about this as well is, my job is North America and it should be because of how big this country is. But I get messages from Australia, singapore, hong Kong. I get messages from australia uh, singapore, hong kong, the middle east every day or every other day. That, for me, is brilliant. If we can, then if I can then see not have to do it, but see it happen and go. That was awesome, like that. That means a lot to me. But I just want natural growth, organic growth, with the eventual hope, um, that the brand remains christopher ward. Well, we're not micro brand, but we're adjacent to it. We are, we're going to get bigger, but we still feel attainable and close to the community. Those things are so important quick, quick question for you.
Justin Summers:Um, and I'll let you talk. Blake uh, and correct me if I'm wrong. Mike uh, are you the only one it at least within the USA that is doing your job, or is your team growing, or how does that work Well?
Mike Pearson:it's just me, and I did this for five, six years on my own and with Vermont as well. So I've always been told pace yourself. But I've got a stupid amount of energy and I know what I can and shouldn't do. The only thing I'm mindful of is family. I'm very proud of dad and if you follow me, you see my kids and my wife. Oh yeah, I love them. But I couldn't do that without the support. So I only do what I think is right.
Mike Pearson:But I don't know if there could be someone that my role as a director is as that title says you make the brand a different thing with your, your ideas and your people should be with you there. I don't and I said this to the guys joining us some titles aside, we'll be working side by side, yeah, and I really believe that. So when that one person comes in, that'll be someone that will be with us, hopefully for years and years, not just for the store but to help us grow the rooms. But it is just me just now. But I will say, if I couldn't do the wind-ups, if I didn't have um olivia or anna who look after events and pr, I couldn't tell the story without um kate rocking and rolling the marketing budget and helping me with those spreadsheets which I'm terrible at, um, and obviously nothing matters unless you've got someone like mike and peter giving you the say have at it, man.
Blake Rea:Then it's really special and you talked about like getting emails from, like you know, overseas territories is. Is that something that you guys are trying to focus on? I know you're trying to grow the brand internationally, but is there like a mike pearson that's doing asia? Is there a mike? Pearson that's doing the middle east, or like not. Yet what are your objectives abroad?
Mike Pearson:like, well, that's going to be, we'll get my country that one, but what? What I'll find for um, this is the example of america with 20 years in business and it's only the last eight months that have had me here. Right, they haven't really needed it. Uh, to the point where you gotta think the amount of watches we produce. We are you, you know, we're at capacity, and so that's why, when we talk about Switzerland and the infrastructure, if we grow that and we bolt onto that and then we add the rocket boosters, which we love, then we can then have more watches and then turn to mainland Europe. We have a really healthy business in mainland Europe, but you'll know that if we, you know, have a dialogue and we strike a chord with, say, germany, the French, they jump on board Austria, then that goes into Benelux and all that different type of area. If you get France right, then the romantic side of design with Italy and Spain, that starts to kick into gear. They're different. I mean, there are more people in Italy than there are in the UK, and there are more people in Germany, andaly, than there are in the uk, and there are more people in germany and france than there are in the uk. So they're huge countries. So we haven't even turned that on yet. They just are aware of us and we're getting talked about.
Mike Pearson:Australia seems a million miles away, because it is, but they speak the same language. Hong kong is a chinese, obviously, speaking country, or mandarin speaking country, but they very much have a lot of anglophiles or expats because of our past there, same in the middle east. So we have pockets of success where, when we have the capacity to do so, we can turn it up, and it might not need someone like myself to be there, it just might need us as a team to show a bit of trust, do an event, do a bit of marketing. But right now we can control what we control, because design is in England into Switzerland, everything's made in switzerland, everything is finally quality controlled in switzerland, boxed up, shipped to the uk. In some cases we calibrate the watches there, but every single bracelet, strap and buckle is done there and packaged. So we control everything, which means that the taxes and duties are all controlled by a brilliant team which you know it can get busy.
Mike Pearson:Any problems, let us know. That's just part of, but right now the narrative is clean and clear. If we did go into China mainland. I'm talking we've got to be ready for it, because that's a different level, and so I think we're smart enough to know that what we've got right now, and how we talk and where we talk loudly, we're in good shape, but the ambition is big. The ambition is thereake for sure.
Justin Summers:Yeah, I love that man. Yeah, it's completely different markets and, uh, yeah, you've always got to be prepared, but I'm sure that you guys are going to do your best and I I know you'll, you'll be successful at whatever you do. Yeah, man. Um, I'll switch gears again, mike. Uh, I'm curious. I'm always curious. I know that you've got a selection that you wear around, uh, of the brand. Yes, uh, what? What is your personal favorite? Uh, christopher ward watch, and why is that?
Mike Pearson:all right, I've got. I've got the two that I wear all the time. I'm wearing the new pro 300 um in bronze at 42 millimeters was the first watch I fell in love with um I. I just think it's great and I've been wearing that in texas as a warm englishman for all these eight months, so the patina is legit right now like so that's kind of like.
Mike Pearson:My journey with Christopher Ward is on my wrist and I wear my 12, 40 millimeters with that blue dial in titanium all the time. I love that because I think I came to the brand just after that was launched and I think that the reason why I'm here is because of Balcanta and that because it showed a different level of who we are. If I was going to say and this is sounds a bit salesy, but I went when I started with the brand, I talked to everybody from mike all the way through the team. I said what do you think is christopher ward? And they just lived through belcanto. So a lot of them said that and in many ways I think the the next evolution of, or growth of, christopher is because of it. So go with that. I still think tri sealander is our bread and butter, that's our speedy, that's our team master. That's where you've got us with a, you know, one to thirteen hundred dollar price point. That's everything that's good about christopher ward.
Mike Pearson:So I'm a core guy. I believe in, you know, a watch that's attainable and affordable for everybody. Um, I did wear the 12x the other day for the first time and that's that's one that's kind of I don't know that I mean I've I've got watches which you know sounds silly, but I've got watches that are way more expensive than the 12x, but that's because it's christopher ward pricing right. I don't know if I've got a watch that's that exciting for 4800 that I had on my wrist because, yeah, yeah, five days of power, that that finishing was unlike anything I've worn before. So that movement, that sh21 movement, that is special to me. So the more and more I'm close to that, the more and more that kind of gets me dude, when I was at uh, because you were at red bar, raleigh, I had met you there.
Justin Summers:That's, that's where I'm based out of is Raleigh, north Carolina. And um, I remember when I was standing then you were like, hey, hey, you know, here you go, you want to be the first one to try it. And I was like, oh my God. I'm like you, you literally looked at me and you said you were like what do you think? And I was like it's beautiful, Like I was just, like I was speechless Cause. I was like standing there looking like, wow, man, like this is really like a work of art, you know, for it to have the power reserve and everything the price point.
Justin Summers:Once again, I was just like man.
Mike Pearson:That's got to be one of my favorites out of the whole catalog, you guys you should have seen the amount of people that have brought along zenith defies to my events, though to put side by side with that, I think that's a massive compliment to it. Um, but what it did show me is, when we launched that that was the first big launch that we'd had when I joined was. It was very interesting to see the online thoughts of the brand and this is post belcanto, obviously so these people seeing that watch at that price, they never knew. The majority didn't know we had sh21 for 10 years. They didn't know that we'd had watches that were close to that price in the past, such as the c60 concept, and so when people look at it, they might not know that.
Mike Pearson:The design is not to be copying anybody. It is, as you said, art, it is architecture. You look through the finishing of those, uh, bridges, yeah, the springs. That is a very different level of finishing. But then you saw online people say, oh, I could get a zenith for half price and you, you hold back from typing. But why is it half price? You know, because I love that brand and I love the alpramera story, but it's not about trying to copy. It's that movement to celebrate 10 years of owning it inside of the collection the 12. That's been our best-selling core model for years and years and years. But it's been interesting to when people like yourself hold it go. Oh, all right, it's legit. That's very satisfying, you understand? Yeah, and that again goes back to why I'm doing the events, because you can only get so much from your phone or a computer screen. You've really got to hold it sometimes, definitely.
Blake Rea:Did you guys have to rework the movement to make it open worked?
Mike Pearson:No, the C60 concept before was open and you can see through If you ever hold that model. It's big, it's thick. The beauty of what they did here is they took away parts to see through better. They brushed and beveled and finished each bridge and each part of the movement differently and they also DLC'd and they coloured certain parts to give it a bit more depth. So that was reworked in a big, big way, but it still did the job that it's done for basically 10 years, five days, double power that we own. Basically, you know, 10 years at five days, double bar powers of that we own. And the thing that I think you you saw with that that uh 12x, was that it wasn't just something that was a movement you throw in a case. This is purposely built to be part of our, our heritage. Case in point was um, there was box crystal top and bottom to make it feel thinner, to be more in line with the 12, so it didn't feel like a hockey putt like it did before, and that was the magic of the design.
Blake Rea:Going back to will, uh, who's a genius for what he did there yeah, that that was one that truly impressed me when I got hands on with it at wind up. You guys were showcasing it.
Mike Pearson:I think for the first time I wind up in san francisco yep, that was a big one and we had little posters there from will as well and every time I went back because I like, I like, took pictures of it.
Blake Rea:And then I was like, oh, I like messed up the pictures, you know, because I was working with a new camera for the first time, um, and anyways, I went back. And then I went back like four or five times like, oh, this, this here is there, is gone, like you had so many people that were just trying to to get it, get hands-on with it for different, different press outlets and uh it's still been like that to this day.
Mike Pearson:I mean, I was, like I said, in new york and that was still. I mean, the bell canter is the star of the show, if people want to hear it and see it. I mean, a lot of people miss the, the songbird on the bottom of the design because the sound is this is the show. So the more and more you look into the watch, the better. But that 12X being $4,800, it's still a higher price point for Christopher Ward, but it's still a watch which is in many people's brands.
Mike Pearson:It would be two, three times that, which is not saying that in an egotistical way, it's just the finishing is so high quality, but there is still going to be that, but you're the $1,000 brand. There is still going to be that, but you're the $1,000 brand. Why should I spend $4,800? And if you can afford it and they see it, it's amazing how many people have loved it. What's beautiful about that model as well is that it's not limited edition. It's been a limited quantity, so we're about to cut that off, which means whatever we build is what we build. But that's great because we gave the ability for that to be for as many people as possible.
Blake Rea:And then that movement goes into the next watch, which is exciting. So I like, I like how you guys like you didn't like over plaster. Like like you guys are clearly proud of this watch, right, but from from the dial, like you wouldn't be able to, there's no dial, right you wouldn't. Like you know, you could have printed christopher ward on the sapphire or done anything like that. But like you guys are just like, hey, here it is, take it as it is well, there's a.
Mike Pearson:There's a big old christopher ward logo on the tungsten rotor, which you cannot miss for sure. So we definitely.
Blake Rea:Oh yeah, that that's true, but you're not going to see that from like on wrist. Like you know, people who are wearing the the 12x would be like what the you know, like if they don't know what they're looking at. What's that you know, I created?
Mike Pearson:that to the guys who ride their motorbikes and you know you're just riding, you just give the nod, like you know, like is that right? And we've done that with the uh, the eventering moon, uh, moon phase. We've done it with, obviously, the belcanto and now with the 12x. So I think that's a testament to the watch. I mean, even the last SH21, we put the logo very small but it had lume on it just to show that. But I think that's a little bit of. We're very proud of the fact that we can show the watch. It's not about us, it's about the watch itself. That's a cool place to be.
Justin Summers:I love that. It's impressive that you guys can design a watch and still have your design, language and dna in that watch and you don't even have to show a logo and people are like oh that's a christopher ward.
Mike Pearson:That's pretty cool imagine saying that a few years ago.
Justin Summers:I mean, it's such an exciting time, so yeah, yeah, back to it, man, all that work on the logo for nothing, right? No, I'm just kidding, exactly right, hey?
Mike Pearson:did his job for a minute I did. I did buy. We do little staff sales every night. I bought a watch, uh, 39 millimeter gmt, with the last text logo, because I do think we're going to find them being part of, you know, folklore or you know part of the collective community. Oh, you've got that, that iteration of the logo. You know what I mean with 20 year old brand with folklore. But yeah, sorry, I just finished watching game of thrones so I'm still in that kind of way.
Mike Pearson:The watch bible yeah, I'll bring my loot out with you for you. Uh, no, but it's.
Blake Rea:It's grand now the logo's, um not not having it special for sure yeah, it's, it's, it's an amazing watch and I'm, I'm, I'm impressed, for sure, and I, I have a defy, I own a defy, um, I think that I was.
Mike Pearson:I was working in a retail store when that came out and to that kind of reaction of people coming to see what's on the inside, I had that same reaction. Obviously, wind up. You've got thousands of people in front of you but you can feel the energy. People love to see what's on the inside of it. But you shouldn't, we shouldn't compare, be so quick to compare, because you know we do things differently in each room. We all have two eyes and a nose, we but we're not all the same and I think that's the same with the watches. Hold it, feel it, turn that crown and feel the weight of it. That's when you get the power of it.
Blake Rea:So yeah, well, we have reached the top of our hour here oh yeah, that was quick I know it's just like flies we're having fun yeah, well thank you for getting me back on with this new t-shirt on yeah, yeah, of course, like it.
Blake Rea:I know. I was like I was thinking about it because we're coming. Like you know, we have three or four podcasts that are scheduled ahead of you. Yeah, um, and I was like like who else do we need to get back, or who else, who else can we reach out to? And I'm like sorry, mike, you're, you're the low-hanging fruit.
Mike Pearson:I'll take it, man. That's what my wife says as well.
Blake Rea:So I'm like all right, you know some of the outreach. It takes effort, right? Like you know, I'm going back and forth with emails and this and that and trying to get to the right gatekeeper and, like you know, get all these people on.
Mike Pearson:You know, get all these people on and then I'm like like Mike, mike you know, if you put a smoke signal in the sky, I will come and have a chat with you.
Blake Rea:So yeah, like put the the bat signal the crystal ward, yeah Like.
Mike Pearson:I'm at my worst when I'm not traveling because I'm sitting there, yeah, cause I've got all of the ideas of on the road just kind of into emails and conversations. But it's so, it's nice that you reached out, it's a perfect time and just to kind of put my get my chatter going.
Blake Rea:So, yeah, we, we talked about it yesterday and here we are today like it. Just, it was that awesome. Um, yeah, we touched on a lot. Um, is there anything that you feel like you know, turning our platform over to you? Is there anything you feel like we didn't talk about that's important to the brand?
Mike Pearson:uh, so I can't thank you enough for getting us on. We really appreciate any of your listeners who've got questions, um, and, if you, any customer service conversations or any kind of preconceived ideas. This is a big thing I've kind of felt is that if 20 years is a long time, but if you read something from a guy or a girl who had a genuine grievance, um, don't take that as something that we are today. We are always learning, always growing um, we own what wasn't right, but we are always growing and educating ourselves to be better as well. But if there's a question or a problem good or bad just give us a shout.
Mike Pearson:Um, be it myself personally, or if you email the customer service email, it does go to a person. We have thousands of emails that are coming, so sometimes it can feel a bit automated, but there is a person genuinely there to help you and if you do need that personal touch, just give us a shout at the team. We're all here for you. That's probably the biggest thing I want people to understand about us is we're only going to get better and we will fall at some times, but that's how you learn right. So that's probably the big thing I'd leave on.
Blake Rea:Yeah, yeah, I mean like a true poet, thanks. Christopher Ward is one of the one of the brands that, as a, when I first started collecting, like there, you know it stood out right. Just, you know, there's not a lot of transparency in the watch industry. You know, like there's people going around saying this in-house, that in-house whatever, they're using a complex supply chain and all that and that's all fine and dandy and nobody really cares. But you know, there's something that was warm, um and transparent and exciting about Christopher Ward and you guys are in a very unique place that you guys can capture like somebody who's buying their first watch or also buying their last watch. There's very few brands out there that have that power and arguably, in my opinion, christopher Ward is one of those brands. Thanks for saying that, ennis. I completely I feel that way, that power, and arguably, in my opinion, christopher Ward is one of those brands.
Mike Pearson:Well, thanks for seeing that in us. I completely I feel that way as well. That's why I'm sitting here right now. So thanks for seeing it and thanks for all the support. They're here before and can't thank you enough and congratulations on the part. It's been brilliant to listen to all these years.
Blake Rea:Thank you, thank you.
Mike Pearson:Thank you, we're going to keep going.
Blake Rea:Thank you so much for coming. We're going to leave all the links in the description for Chris reward. Go out and buy your 12 bell Canto or whatever from.
Mike Pearson:Chris.
Blake Rea:A brand new watch. Let's go 12 or bell Canto. I should have said I think we should do it, let's build it. Yeah, there you go. Just the the 12 case with the Belcanto movement.
Justin Summers:Only risk collab.
Blake Rea:Yeah, yeah, there you go. Yeah, yeah, we're. We're great, grateful to have you on and thanks for spending time with us as always, and we'll maybe, maybe in a in a few years, we'll have you on again with Christopher Ward.
Mike Pearson:Yeah, I'm going nowhere now. I'm fine for a bit, thank you.
Blake Rea:Okay, now I'll fight for a bit.
Mike Pearson:Thank you, okay, that'd be a first again, right, the third time we have you on the podcast. No, I'm fine, I'm happy.
Justin Summers:Okay, it's almost it's almost like we're friends with this guy or something like.
Mike Pearson:Yeah, definitely we'll be safe, and thanks for everyone for listening.
Justin Summers:Thank, you too much.
